


Rock 'em, Sock 'em

by kiss_me_cassie



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Gift Giving, Socks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-16 12:49:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12343014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiss_me_cassie/pseuds/kiss_me_cassie
Summary: "You've never seen emoji socks before?""Well, yes, I have, but you don't seem... " Steve stopped abruptly and her smirk got bigger."I don't seem…?""The type."





	Rock 'em, Sock 'em

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this most adorable art piece](https://catarinabelarmino.tumblr.com/post/164719626962/funny-socks) by catarinabelarmino and used with her permission.
> 
> Much thanks to Crazy4Orcas for taking time from writing her great epic [Dog Days AU](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12207582) (Which you totally need to read! And encourage her to write more in of!) to look over this fluffiness.

_"That's some interesting footwear you've got going on there, Nat," Steve commented when she kicked off her boots to swing her feet up onto the coffee table._

_Natasha wiggled her toes._

_"What's the problem, Rogers?" she asked with a smirk. "You've never seen emoji socks before?"_

_"Well, yes, I have, but you don't seem... "_

_Steve stopped abruptly and her smirk got bigger._

_"I don't seem…?"_

_"The type." he finished, narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously._

_"Oh?" she asked, raising a brow._

_"You know damn well it's not the socks themselves. You just never struck me as the whimsical type," he said defensively. When she continued to smirk at him, he gave her his sternest Captain America look. "Natasha."_

_"Ok, I'll stop." Laughing, she pulled out her phone. "But it was totally worth getting the Cap Frown of Authoritarian Disapproval to see you squirm.”_

_"I'm sure," he said, slouching down in the chair across from her and smiling. "So, really, where'd the socks come from?"_

_"A friend."_

_Steve glanced towards the door. "Speaking of… Where is Clint? I'm starving."_

_"He was stopping to get the pizzas on his way." Natasha popped her gum and tapped something out on her phone. "He should be here in a bit. Then we can get started."_

\---

5 years ago...

 

"Here. I got you a little gift," Clint said, tossing a small shopping bag into Natasha's lap.

Natasha frowned. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because we're not the kind to get each other gifts," she said.

"Then let's say it's in celebration of our first successful SHIELD mission as Strike Team Delta."

Her frown of confusion turned into a smirk. "Didn't think you were the sentimental type, Barton."

"There are lots of things you don't know about me." He gestured to the bag which was still in her lap. "You going to open it or what?""

With carefully feigned indifference, she opened the bag, only to frown again when she looked inside. "It's a pair of socks."

"Yup. They've got little bullseyes on them. See?"

"Yes, I do," she said, completely at a loss as to what to make of them. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Because your feet are always cold and most of your boots aren't warm enough."

"But why bullseyes?"

"Because archery," he replied indignantly, pantomiming nocking an arrow.

She lowered her eyes, hiding how much the gift meant to her. "Thank you."

\---

4 years ago...

 

"Natasha!"

"You need something, Barton?" she asked, keeping her head buried in the thick tome in front of her.

"Yeah, I need my socks back."

She could barely suppress her grin. "Your socks? I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, you don't, do you? So you have absolutely no idea why my drawer is full of socks with all kinds of spiders and spiderwebs on them?"

She shook her head, still keeping her eyes on her book.

"Not a clue. Did you check with the laundry service? Maybe they mixed up a delivery."

"Ha ha, very funny," he said, looming over her. "I want my socks back."

Carefully placing her finger in the book to hold her place, she finally looked up at him.

"Don't you like spiders?" she asked.

She was smiling, but otherwise her voice and posture were carefully neutral.

"Not really." He made a face at her. "They're kind of creepy."

Her smile, which had started out wide and bright, faltered, and she frowned at him.

"Wait… You're serious?" He looked startled. Then a slow grin started to appear as he finally took in her meaning. "Let me clarify. I like _some_ spiders."

"Good," she said, her smile returning.

"But I am not a fan of them on my socks," he added.

"Not even as a… token or something?" she asked.

"I could get used to them as a… token or something."

They stared at each other for a moment, neither quite ready to admit more. Clint finally broke the stalemate.

"Maybe next time you could get something with some arrows?"

She raised a brow at him. "You think there's going to be a next time?"

He grinned. "I know so."

\---

3 years ago...

 

As soon as he entered the apartment, he could hear Natasha cursing in the bedroom. What he didn't expect was to find her sitting on the edge of the bed in one of his old t-shirts, unsuccessfully trying use her one good arm to peel off a pair of long mermaid socks.

He bit back a smile as he leaned in the doorway. "Need any help?"

She blew back an errant curl and scowled at him. "Don't suppose you know of any magical ways to mend my broken arm and keep the stitches in my side from popping?"

"Nope," he answered smugly. "Should have taken Cho up on her offer when you had the chance."

"Should've." With a sigh, she gestured with the cast towards her feet. "Help?"

"Sure. How did you get them on?" he asked, a hint of laughter in his voice as he knelt before her and rolled one pastel sock down her leg and off her foot.

"Sharon stopped by for a visit." She held out her other leg and he unrolled that one, too.

"All right, there you go," he said as he stood. "So now that you've shed your tail, what's next?"

She nodded towards the bathroom. "Bath."

"Kind of ironic, don't you think?" He gently picked her up in his arms. "Come on Ariel, let's get you into the tub."

\---

2 years ago…

 

He had the damned chicken feet socks on again.

They'd seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it was a living nightmare. Every time he wore them (and it seemed like he wore them a lot) he'd strut around the house crowing 'Caw! Caw!'

She couldn't take it anymore.

"If you don't knock it off, I'm going to chop you up and put you in the soup," she threatened him, waving her knife at him as he came strutting into the kitchen.

"But Nat, I love these socks. They're hawk socks."

She raised a brow at him. "You think they're hawk socks?"

He frowned and looked down at his feet. "Aren't they?"

"They're chickens," she said, shaking her head and laughing at his crestfallen expression.

"How can you tell?" he asked.

"Because I'm the one who gave them to you and they're chickens."

"But if they're chickens, then that means…"

She laughed again and went back to chopping vegetables. "Cluck, cluck."

__\---_ _

1 year ago…

 

Clint had just finished starting the fire in the fireplace when she came back from the kitchen, juggling two mugs of Irish coffee and a small, wrapped gift.

"Nice socks," she said, smiling and gesturing towards his feet.

"Same," he commented. He grabbed the mugs and set them on the coffee table then pulled her down next to him on the couch. "Gift time?"

She nodded.

"Open mine first," she said, tossing the flat package onto his lap.

He laughed when he unwrapped it to find a pair of socks with slobbering golden retrievers on them.

"You like them?"

"I love them. I'm sure Lucky will, too, and start chewing on them as soon as he sees them." He pushed her gift into her hands. "Go ahead, open yours."

She did, rolling her eyes when she saw the design. "Clint, we've gone over this. I don't have a cat."

"Sure you do," Clint argued. "Liho. Look, she even has little pink ears like the cat on the socks."

"But she's not --"

"Your cat. Yeah, yeah, I got it. Like this isn't our cabin and that's not my necklace you're wearing," he teased. "You're a woman of mystery with no connections."

She cuddled in closer to him and bumped her s'mores covered foot against his. "I wouldn't say no connections."

He chuckled into her hair and kissed her temple. "So you'll lay claim to Liho after all?"

"I suppose," she said with a grin. "I might even be willing to claim the dog."

"What about his master?"

She laughed and twisted around to kiss him properly. "Like there's ever been any serious doubt about that."

\---

_"Who wants pizza?" Clint said as he strolled in and deftly tossed two pizza boxes on the table. "I've got one meat lovers and one veggie… Hey, you're wearing the emoji socks,” he said to Natasha with a quick laugh._

_"Steve was shocked," Natasha said, smiling at him and setting her feet back down on the floor before throwing another smirk Steve's way._

_Clint grinned and reached for the box with the meat lovers pizza._

_"I think ‘shocked’ is a bit of an overstatement," Steve protested, eyes bouncing between the two of them._

_"Surprised, then," she said, her smirk getting even bigger. She flipped open the other box and grabbed a slice of the veggie pizza._

_Clint smirked, too, and propped his own sock clad feet up on the table. They looked like little cartoon pizza slices._

_Steve laughed. "Ok, now you're both trolling me."_

_"Nah, not trolling," Clint said. He took a big bite of his pizza. "But, you know, the uniform gets awfully drab and boring, all black kevlar and grey neoprene. Only so much you can do to brighten it up when you're trying to stay off the radar. "_

_"So this is something you both do?" Steve asked curiously._

_Clint and Natasha shared a smile. "Yeah."_

_"Remember that one time when we came back from Myanmar?" Clint asked._

_Nat paused, thinking. "When you wrenched your ankle jumping off the third floor balcony?"_

_"Yeah. The look on the SHIELD medic's face when she stripped off my boot was priceless. Couldn't believe I had Wile E. Coyote socks." Clint looked wistful. "Man, I miss those socks."_

_Natasha patted his knee and Steve cleared his throat awkwardly._

_"Not that I'm not enjoying all this, but maybe we could eat then get down to business?"_

_Several hours later, Natasha nudged Clint's shoulder as they made their way back to his place._

_"You think Steve might be ready?" Natasha asked, grinning._

_Clint grinned back. "Absolutely. I already have the perfect starter pair."_

_A few days later, a pair of socks with little shields all over them appeared on Steve's bed with a note._

‘Welcome to the club.’

**Author's Note:**

> Socks, in order of appearance:  
> [Bullseye socks](https://gckollection.com/shop/custom-socks/bulls-eye/)  
> [Spider socks](https://www.allaboutsocks.com/lin-cycling-spider-socks-p-49.html)  
> [Mermaid socks](https://www.livingroyal.com/products/rainbow-mermaid?gclid=Cj0KCQjwi97NBRD1ARIsAPXVWWBKRd7JPMWC5SfdRdqaZkxSqultVq0-rwJw0RAGfR-iJjZ4zniU2m4aAmnkEALw_wcB)  
> [Chicken Feet Socks](https://www.groovebags.com/products/chicken-feet-socks?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlepla&variant=34358749635&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0ejNBRCYARIsACEBhDO3JwNlzbWzTMcorvnQlmODFWoiuQSYhayqVWC2erlXahgnH8mkBEoaArQVEALw_wcB)  
> [S’mores socks](https://www.socksmith.com/want-s-more-socks.html)  
> [Golden Retriever socks](https://www.onlinepresales.com/collections/golden-retriever/products/golden-retriever-socks?variant=35099079620)[Black Cat socks](http://joeshop.co.uk/product/accessories/socks/60705_1-socks-toe-cat-grey-with-black-cat-made-with-cotton/)  
> [Pizza socks](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/415597871847014221/)  
> [Wile E. Coyote socks](https://www.ebay.com/i/142101126988?chn=ps&dispItem=1)  
> [Captain America Argyle socks](http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/jnrn/)


End file.
